Tags:
Classics, Criminology, Fiction, General, Literary, Science Fiction, Social
Science
Synopsis
Novel
by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962. Set in a dismal dystopia, it is the
first-person account of a juvenile delinquent who undergoes state-sponsored
psychological rehabilitation for his aberrant behavior. The novel satirizes
extreme political systems that are based on opposing models of the
perfectibility or incorrigibility of humanity. Written in a futuristic slang
vocabulary invented by Burgess, in part by adaptation of Russian words, it was
his most original and best-known work. Alex, the protagonist, has a passion for
classical music and is a member of a vicious teenage gang that commits random
acts of brutality. Captured and imprisoned, he is transformed through
behavioral conditioning into a model citizen, but his taming also leaves him
defenseless. He ultimately reverts to his former behavior. The final chapter of
the original British edition, in which Alex renounces his amoral past, was
removed when the novel was first published in the United States. -- The
Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of LiteraturePublishers
Weekly
After
his youthful adventures of raping and pillaging, Alex finds himself in prison.
When he volunteers for an experiment, his sentence is commuted to two weeks.
The experiment leaves him physically incapable of doing wrong and releases him
back into the world. However, when he repeatedly runs into people he has
wronged in the past, his real suffering begins. This audiobook gives new life
to Burgess's tale of recklessly violent youth, free will and true redemption.
While Malcolm McDowell forever infused viewers with the look of Alex in the
film, Tom Hollander performs an even more amazing feat. With a smooth, almost
lyrical, crisp voice, Hollander delivers Burgess's "nadsat" dialect
to readers with such rhythmic cadence that listeners will easily understand the
extensive slang used throughout the book. This unabridged production also
includes the 21st chapter, which was not dramatized in the film or in the
book's original U.S. publication. The audiobook opens with a brief note by
Burgess on living with the book's legacy. The final CD features selected
readings by Burgess from a previous recorded abridged version. While it's
interesting to hear the older and gruffer voice, it does not compare to Hollander's
performance. A Penguin paperback. (July)
Copyright
2007 Reed Business Information
Biography
W.
W. Norton publishes several of Anthony Burgess's works, including A Clockwork
Orange, The Doctor is Sick, Honey for the Bears, The Long Day Wanes, Nothing
Like the Sun, The Wanting Seed, and Re Joyce.
Description:
ISBN-13: 9780393312836
ISBN: 0393312836
Tags: Classics, Criminology, Fiction, General, Literary, Science Fiction, Social Science
Synopsis
Novel by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962. Set in a dismal dystopia, it is the first-person account of a juvenile delinquent who undergoes state-sponsored psychological rehabilitation for his aberrant behavior. The novel satirizes extreme political systems that are based on opposing models of the perfectibility or incorrigibility of humanity. Written in a futuristic slang vocabulary invented by Burgess, in part by adaptation of Russian words, it was his most original and best-known work. Alex, the protagonist, has a passion for classical music and is a member of a vicious teenage gang that commits random acts of brutality. Captured and imprisoned, he is transformed through behavioral conditioning into a model citizen, but his taming also leaves him defenseless. He ultimately reverts to his former behavior. The final chapter of the original British edition, in which Alex renounces his amoral past, was removed when the novel was first published in the United States. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of LiteraturePublishers Weekly
After his youthful adventures of raping and pillaging, Alex finds himself in prison. When he volunteers for an experiment, his sentence is commuted to two weeks. The experiment leaves him physically incapable of doing wrong and releases him back into the world. However, when he repeatedly runs into people he has wronged in the past, his real suffering begins. This audiobook gives new life to Burgess's tale of recklessly violent youth, free will and true redemption. While Malcolm McDowell forever infused viewers with the look of Alex in the film, Tom Hollander performs an even more amazing feat. With a smooth, almost lyrical, crisp voice, Hollander delivers Burgess's "nadsat" dialect to readers with such rhythmic cadence that listeners will easily understand the extensive slang used throughout the book. This unabridged production also includes the 21st chapter, which was not dramatized in the film or in the book's original U.S. publication. The audiobook opens with a brief note by Burgess on living with the book's legacy. The final CD features selected readings by Burgess from a previous recorded abridged version. While it's interesting to hear the older and gruffer voice, it does not compare to Hollander's performance. A Penguin paperback. (July)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
Biography
W. W. Norton publishes several of Anthony Burgess's works, including A Clockwork Orange, The Doctor is Sick, Honey for the Bears, The Long Day Wanes, Nothing Like the Sun, The Wanting Seed, and Re Joyce.